Lucas Pouille Stuns Rafael Nadal at the U.S. Open (VIDEO)

It was freakin' brilliant.

Over four hours and the Frenchman Pouille stunned Rafa.

At WSJ, "Rafael Nadal Ousted at U.S. Open":

Rafael Nadal, once the most reliable player in tennis in close matches, suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the U.S. Open.

Lucas Pouille, a 22-year-old from France, beat Nadal in five tense sets on Sunday that lasted four hours and seven minutes, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(6).

Nadal led by a break of serve early in the fifth set. In the fifth-set tiebreaker, he trailed 6-3 before saving three match points to tie the score at 6-6. But then Nadal missed a shot that he never used to miss, a forehand in the middle of the court that was ready made for a winner. He drilled it into the net. On the next point, Pouille smashed a winner and fell to his back in triumph.

“Was a big mistake,” Nadal said.

Pouille said the miss was a relief and helped him go after the next point.

“I wanted to take my chance to be very aggressive,” he said. “That’s what I did at the match point.”

Nadal, a 14-time Grand Slam singles champion, had been making a comeback in recent weeks. At the French Open, he was forced to withdraw from the tournament because of a wrist injury. He skipped Wimbledon and decided to play at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. There, he won a gold medal in doubles and lost in the bronze-medal match of the singles tournament. He came to New York feeling healthier, he said, and more confident.

Nadal won his first three matches at the Open without losing a set—and then Pouille won the first set of this match in 28 minutes. The match was full of long rallies and lunging volleys, and Pouille showed off his variety, speed and resilience...

More at that top link.

And watch, "Lucas Pouille U.S. Open 2016 - INTERVIEW (VIDEO)."

Equality, Liberty, Justice

Heh.

It's the formula for a better world, and a richer one, from Deirdre McCloskey, at NYT, "The Formula for a Richer World? Equality, Liberty, Justice":

We can improve the conditions of the working class. Raising low productivity by enabling human creativity is what has mainly worked. By contrast, taking from the rich and giving to the poor helps only a little — and anyway expropriation is a one-time trick. Enrichment from market-tested betterment will go on and on and, over the next century or so, will bring comfort in essentials to virtually everyone on the planet, and more to an expanding middle class.

Look at the astonishing improvements in China since 1978 and in India since 1991. Between them, the countries are home to about four out of every 10 humans. Even in the United States, real wages have continued to grow — if slowly — in recent decades, contrary to what you might have heard. Donald Boudreaux, an economist at George Mason University, and others who have looked beyond the superficial have shown that real wages are continuing to rise, thanks largely to major improvements in the quality of goods and services, and to nonwage benefits. Real purchasing power is double what it was in the fondly remembered 1950s — when many American children went to bed hungry.

What, then, caused this Great Enrichment?

Not exploitation of the poor, not investment, not existing institutions, but a mere idea, which the philosopher and economist Adam Smith called “the liberal plan of equality, liberty and justice.” In a word, it was liberalism, in the free-market European sense. Give masses of ordinary people equality before the law and equality of social dignity, and leave them alone, and it turns out that they become extraordinarily creative and energetic...

RTWT.

Hat Tip: Instapundit.

What Can You Do With a Degree in the Liberal Arts?

A lot, although that's not what most people think nowadays, especially helicopter parents.

See Steven Pearlstein, at WaPo, "Meet the parents who won’t let their children study literature":

For me, there’s nothing more depressing than meeting incoming freshmen at Mason who have declared themselves as accounting majors. They’re 18 years old, they haven’t had a chance to take a course in Shakespeare or evolutionary biology or the history of economic thought, and already they’ve decided to devote the rest of their lives to accountancy. It’s worth remembering that at American universities, the original rationale for majors was not to train students for careers. Rather, the idea was that after a period of broad intellectual exploration, a major was supposed to give students the experience of mastering one subject, in the process developing skills such as discipline, persistence, and how to research, analyze, communicate clearly and think logically.

As it happens, those are precisely the skills business executives still say they want from college graduates — although, to be fair, that has not always been communicated to their human-resource departments or the computers they use to sort through résumés...

RTWT.

It hardly needs to be said, but I heartily agree with Pearlstein.

Lawrence Wright, The Terror Years

Hey, Lawrence Wright's got a new book out.

He's great!

At Amazon, The Terror Years: From al-Qaeda to the Islamic State.

Epilogue of .@lawrence_wright's new book, The Terror Years, is a sobering meditation on what drives terrorists. pic.twitter.com/jA2dSJfncJ

— Will McCants (@will_mccants) August 29, 2016

In the Mail: Mark Philip Bradley, The World Reimagined [BUMPED]

This just came yesterday, from Cambridge University Press, at Amazon, Mark Philip Bradley, The World Reimagined: Americans and Human Rights in the Twentieth Century.

I started it last night. If you like U.S. diplomatic history you'll enjoy this book. It's deeply researched and lyrically written.

More later.

Donald Trump’s America (VIDEO)

The presidential horse race remains neck and neck, and Trump's even up by three at the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times 'Daybreak' poll.

Trump need to keep pushing this message, hammering it hard:

Hundreds of Thousands Protest Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (VIDEO)

The country's on the verge of collapse.

At NYT, "Venezuelan President Is Chased by Angry Protesters."





More video, "Socialism: Starving Venezuelan Protesters Chase President Nicolas Maduro Through Streets of Caracas."

Amber Lee’s Labor Day Forecast

It's been below average this weekend, but still plenty of nice warm weather if you're looking to get out in the elements, especially out toward Palm Springs.

Via CSB News 2 Los Angeles:

Lane Kiffin's Revenge: Alabama Beats USC 52-6 in Season Opener

Last I checked, the Angels were 20 and 1/2 games back, so I've obviously blown them off for the season. I'm looking for Houston or Seattle for the playoffs and World Series, and of course San Francisco and the Dodgers for the National League.

With that in mind, this year gives me a chance to really get into college football from the opening weekend of the season (I won't be watching nearly as much baseball), although the USC Trojans got off to an extremely inauspicious start. The Crimson Tide pounded USC 52-6. It was merciless, and frankly, Alabama wasn't even playing that well. The Trojans pretty much gave it up after about the first quarter. Man, it was ugly. But oh what sweet revenge for former USC Head Coach Lane Kiffin, who was unceremoniously thrown under the bus on the tarmac at LAX last year, fired in one of the most embarrassing moments in Trojan football history.

In any case, at the Los Angeles Times, "Alabama overpowers USC early and then often in 52-6 rout." And from Bill Plaschke's column, "Trojans aren't ready for Crimson Tide, prime time or much of anything":

It was the first game of the season, the most celebrated game in several seasons, and the USC football team was not ready.

How could they not be ready?

It was heralded as the beginning of a new era, the start of a new chapter, and USC acted like it was still on stinking probation.

How could a traditional national power take the national stage looking like … this?

The USC football team was many things in its 52-6 loss to top-ranked Alabama on Saturday night at AT&T Stadium. But there was one thing it was not, one thing that will be sure to upset the thousands of USC fans who joyfully and hopefully traveled here, one thing everyone had counted on seeing from this new look of a Clay Helton-coached team.

The Trojans were not Trojans. They were not the program that once had the discipline to create a dynasty. They were not Alabama, and that’s fine, because Alabama has won four national titles in seven years. But, seriously, they were not even within six touchdowns of Alabama in a game that wasn’t that close.

“Cold hard truth is we didn’t play up to ours,” Helton said of the Trojans’ potential.

Cold hard truth, they didn’t show up, and how could they not show up?

They were recklessly undisciplined. Jabari Ruffin stomped Alabama’s Minkah Fitzpatrick directly in the crotch and got tossed out of the game.

They were distracted. Iman Marshall quit on a play and allowed ArDarius Stewart to race freely for a 39-yard touchdown pass.

They were outsmarted. Marshall and teammate Chris Hawkins both blitzed and left Stewart wide open to race downfield in completing a 71-yard touchdown pass.

They were sloppy. Chris Tilbey, the Trojans punter, dropped a snap and fell helplessly on the ball.

They were flimsy. Damien Harris ran through, and away from, the entire USC defense for 71 yards to set up another touchdown run.

They were disorganized. Helton called all three of his first-half timeouts in the first quarter, including two in seven seconds.

Finally, perhaps most painfully, they were willfully embarrassed by their former coach. Lane Kiffin, the deposed Trojans boss who runs the Alabama offense, poured it on, and on, and on. Everyone saw this coming, but it was even uglier than expected, Kiffin’s revenge even more painful than imagined...

Still more.

Alessandra Ambrosio In Beverly Hills

I don't know if I'm up for a full Rule 5 roundup. Either way, here's William Teach, at Pirate's Cove, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup."

And at Egotastic, "Alessandra Ambrosio Pokies In Beverly Hills." She's so fabulous. I just love her.

Backstage Angel #glam #comingsoon @VictoriasSecret #vsholiday pic.twitter.com/zOy8Tb4GPZ

— Alessandra Ambrosio (@AngelAlessandra) September 2, 2016

Professor Joseph Stiglitz Discusses the Economic Vices and Virtues of Brexit (VIDEO)

Remember, he's got a new book out, available at Amazon, The Euro: How a Common Currency Threatens the Future of Europe.

And watch, at Sky News. He seems quite friendly:

The Environmental Crowd Knows No Compromise

It's not just the environmentalists (with an emphasis on "mental").

Leftists across the board are fanatical campaigners who see their cause as giving them unlimited license in pursuit of the agenda. We've seen this over the last few years on homosexual rights to Black Lives Matter.

But yeah, enviros are certainly overrepresented with regressive nutjobs.

From Rex Murphy, at Toronto's National Post:

The environmental protesters who are determined to throttle Alberta’s oil industry are so invested in the narrow, regressive world of their own doom-laden vision of the future, and the fanatic, narcissistic righteousness that is the hallmark of that vision, that they see themselves as having a licence to to do just about anything, no matter how morally reprehensible, in the pursuit of their cause.

Civilized debate, respect for one’s opponents, listening to differing opinions and good manners: these are the practices and mores of every other social and political exchange, and are necessary for reasoned debate to take place in a democratic society. Yet the anti-pipeline zealots seems to think that these standards don’t apply to them.

Witness that gruesome, arrogant invasion of the National Energy Board (NEB) hearing into the Energy East pipeline in Montreal this week. Three — just three — typically overzealous pipeline justice warriors flamed into the hearing room on Monday, screaming, “It has to stay in the ground.” One of them charged the panel members sitting at the front of the room, forcing the RCMP to subdue and shackle the bellicose buffoon. It was, of course, a stunt — precisely the kind of stunt that passes for protest these days, whenever the save-the-planet gang smells a camera in the distance, a headline in the making or an opportunity derail any legitimate airing of a contentious public issue.

They were only three protesters. But these three hooligans are a perfect example of the holier-than-thou mentality the pervades the modern environmental movement. Storm a meeting, scream slogans, insult the industry, play the victim, taunt the police, harass, intimidate and act like a thug — you may call it protesting if you wish, but bullying and boorishness are far closer to the mark...

RTWT.

Hat Tip: BCF.

Japan's Surrender Aboard the USS Missouri (VIDEO)

September 2, 1945.

NBC News had an excellent feature last night:



And the original footage of the surrender, "Japanese Surrender in Color (1945)."

'Throughout his career, [Governor Jerry] Brown has fostered policies that have contributed to the regulatory quagmire largely responsible for helping drive house values in California up more than three times the national rate in the last half century...'

It's Joel Kotkin, at the New Geography, "JERRY BROWN’S HOUSING HYPOCRISY" (via Instapundit).

Time for #NeverTrumpers to Man-Up

This is spectacular, from Ace, at AoSHQ, "FoxNews Poll: Trump Virtually Tied with Clinton in Four-Way Race; Down Statistically Meaningless Two Points, 41-39":

New fox poll pic.twitter.com/eL5KIYFtS1

— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) August 31, 2016

Hardest hit: The #NeverTrumper Pundit Class, who are depending on a blowout to maintain that their constant anti-Trump agitations cannot possibly affect the election.

Oddly enough, none of these people claim to have zero influence on the conservative population except when they agitate against Trump. I've asked several people to provide past resumes and book proposals to demonstrate they have previously claimed to have absolutely no readership or influence over other conservatives; none of them have come forward with such book proposals stating, "I vow to you that I have barely any readers at all and that my book, should you publish it, will make nary the faintest ripple in the national debate."

It's only now, during 2016 (specifically from May of 2016 to November 2016), that this obviously highly-self-regarding group of Thought Leaders is making this claim of having no importance and no following.

I imagine these claims will evaporate 'round the second week of November.

Then they'll all be back in Highly Influential Thought Leaders of the Conservative Movement mode again.

Sorry, I consider these claims to be cowardly, dishonest, and utterly chickenshit. People who have been cashing checks for decades based on their very value as magnets for conservative eyes can't suddenly claim that, at least for a six month period from May to November 2016, they have no influence whatsoever and are doing nothing at all to advance Hillary Clinton's election prospects.

It's cowardice, pure and simple. If you consider Trump so terrible that you feel obligated to support Hillary, then at least have the guts to say that, instead of putting on this childishly dishonest and evasive act of claiming that words people care enough about to pay you cash money for suddenly have no impact on anyone, anywhere, ever...

Keep reading.

Ace is the place, heh.

ANGELA MERKEL: I want a border control system 'modeled on the U.S. ...'

Now this is interesting, from Fuzzy Slippers, at Legal Insurrection, "Merkel: We Have to Demand Integration of Refugees."

'I don't know why Trump haters think they will get somewhere by expressing this kind of contempt. It feels utterly repellent to me...'

It's Althouse, who is "utterly repelled" by the "kind of contempt" shown by the #NeverTrump losers at Red State.

Here, "How on earth do you want to see a white man act in a black church? Is it supposed to be simply impossible?"

The Presidential Horse Race is Tied Up in Latest IBD/TIPP Poll

Well, I think I can finally dispense with my uncertainty about the state of the race at this point. We're in a certified dead heat horse race, and I love it.

IBD's poll is very reputable, and in fact is one the most accurate surveys out there.

See, "Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump Are Tied In Latest IBD/TIPP Poll":

In a sharp turnaround in an already volatile election season, support for Hillary Clinton tumbled as Donald Trump made gains over the past month, leaving the race a virtual tie.

The latest IBD/TIPP Poll shows that Clinton is now ahead of Trump by just one percentage point, 44% to 43% among likely voters. Last month, Clinton had a seven-point lead over Trump — 46% to 39% -- among registered voters.

Clinton and Trump are tied at 39% each in a four-way matchup that includes Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, who gets 12% support, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who gets 3%.

As the election nears, IBD/TIPP is narrowing the horse-race results from registered to likely voters. This month's survey included a total of 934 respondents, 887 of whom were registered voters and 861 were deemed likely voters. The margin of error for the horse-race results is +/‐3.4 percentage points. The IBD/TIPP Poll has been cited as the most accurate in the past three presidential elections.

"Two big factors are contributing to the tightening of the race," said Raghavan Mayur, president of TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence, which directs the IBD/TIPP Poll. "One is due to Trump and other due to changes in the electorate."

Trump has been widely regarded as having had a good couple of weeks — which included his visit to flood-damaged Louisiana and his meeting with Mexican President Pena Nieto, as well as an outreach to blacks and apologies for his past tone.

The IBD/TIPP Poll results show Trump made solid gains among independents, going from 36% support last month to 44% this month.

"We also see a significant spike in enthusiasm among Republicans -- the 'silent majority' is turning into a 'vocal majority,' " Mayur said. "Republicans' interest level at 88% is significantly higher than Democrats' at 80%.

Clinton, in contrast, has been hit by damaging revelations in newly released emails about the unseemly relationship between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department during her tenure as secretary of state. The news appears to be taking its toll.

Clinton's favorability rating slipped from 43% in August to 40% this month among registered voters, while Trump gained seven points. Both candidates are now tied on this score.

Meanwhile, nearly two thirds (62%) now say Clinton is "not honest or trustworthy," up from 58% in last month's poll. Trump scores comparatively much better, with 52% saying he's not honest or trustworthy, a three-point improvement from last month.

Trump also made gains in other areas. The latest poll shows that 47% now think Trump would do a better job handling the economy, vs. 43% who pick Clinton. That's almost an exact reversal from last month. And while Clinton was ahead of Trump on handling terrorism, the two are now tied on this score at 45% each.

In other bad sign for Clinton, the share of her supporters who say they back her "strongly" dropped from 51% in August to 44% in September. Trump, on the other hand, saw his strong support climb from 47% to 50%...

Still more at that top link.

If anything, it's Hillary's stumbles that account for the tightening of the race. Yeah, Trump's doing better, having a good couple of weeks, etc., but if we could just get some laser focus among the MSM on her epic scandals and corruption, we'd be able to make it a race all the way to November.

Donald Trump Speaks at Black Church in Detroit (VIDEO)

He's got such an ease of relationships with the black community. It's on display. And I love his message of unity, peace, and prosperity. He's promising to right the wrongs that have afflicted America's blacks, and he's sincere.

I feel so bad that we might very well miss the chance to have this man as our national leader, because despite all of Trump's bluster, he's actually pretty meek in person. He in fact doesn't like to confront people face to face, he'll listen to concerns, and then use his business instincts to try to make this work. To try to strike a deal.

Remember Michele Bachmann from yesterday, where she said that if you don't like Trump's blustery demeanor, well, get over it. You gotta go with the full package, and I confident that he's expressing genuine heartfelt sentiments about black uplift and community recovery.

It's so much more enriching than what we hear from the current president, which is all about dividing communities rather than uniting them. Just look at public opinion polls on race relations today. Listening to Trump is like a breath of fresh air, and I'm black, people. My dad was black. My sisters and I endured racism and hostility when we were kids. No, I'm not from the downtrodden inner-city --- both of my parents held advance degrees from elite universities --- but the black struggle is real to me and I take all of this very personally.

In any case, at the Detroit Free Press, "Trump to parishioners at black Detroit church: 'I'm here to listen'." (At Memeorandum.)

And watch, at Fox News, "Trump speaks at Detroit church: We're in this together."

Hailey Clauson Summer of Swim Behind the Scenes (VIDEO)

Here's one more for now, via Sports Illustrated: